Quietly
by adorkable3
Summary: What's worse? Falling in love with your best friend, or falling in love and not knowing what to do about it? On the road to love problems, as they so often do, ensue. DannyxSam.
1. Danny

**Title**: Quietly

**Author**: adorkable3

**Feedback**: yes!

**Disclaimer**: Danny Phantom belongs to Nickelodeon and all those associated with it. Richard Linklater is a great director that all should check out.

* * *

Danny Fenton, age 17, had fallen asleep at an awkward angle on the couch and his neck hurt.

His neck hurt so much, in fact, that it took him a solid minute to realize that he was not the only person asleep on the couch. It took him another twenty seconds to realize that the other person was his best friend Sam, and that she was not only asleep, but asleep on top of him.

Danny surveyed his surroundings. He had clearly fallen asleep some time during the movie. His head was resting uncomfortably on the arm of the chair, which explained the neck ache. A quick look at the floor showed that Tucker was also asleep. And Sam…

…had a look of total contentment on her face, her head resting against his chest, and she was fast asleep.

Danny had two options. One: he could wake Sam up, there would be some socially crippling silences stuffed between their stammered apologies, and then there would be weirdness between them for a week. Or Two: he could try to slide away as gently as possible and get into his sleeping bag on the floor, and Sam would be none the wiser.

Oh yeah, Option Two was winning.

Danny had begun to slowly slide out from under Sam when she stirred. Danny froze as she said in a sleepy voice, "Don't leave. You're warm."

Well, if Sam had enjoyed his warmth before, she would love him now; Danny blushed so much he was sure it had significantly raised his body temperature.

Danny chose to ignore her request and this time successfully managed to extract himself from Sam's grip. He settled into the sleeping bag he was supposed to have been in all along and looked back up at Sam: still asleep. Her arm had fallen off the couch. Danny took her hand and kissed the palm before gently resting it on her stomach.

A minute later he realized exactly what it was he had done. That was a romantic gesture if there ever was one, which was not supposed to happen between him and Sam at all. Fake-out make-outs, yes. Genuine affection, no. But he had done it so naturally, that had to have meant something…

With these thoughts banging around in his head, Danny slowly fell asleep.

* * *

The next morning, Sam didn't mention anything about it, and Danny decided if that she didn't remember it, there was no reason to bring it up. Not like it was all that embarrassing, he told himself for the fiftieth time. And it's not like there had been anything really romantic about it. They were best friends; they'd know each other for years. They were just close. That was all. 

That Monday at school, it became a lot harder to convince himself of that. If he and Sam really were that close, he shouldn't have noticed how pretty she looked during physics, he shouldn't have been thinking about her all through English class (he blamed their study of poetry on that), and he shouldn't have felt so nervous around her.

It's Sam, Danny reminded himself again. Nothing to be nervous about.

"You okay?" Sam asked him after school as the three of them walked home.

"Yeah," Danny answered, far too quickly to be true.

"Are you sure?" Tucker asked. "You look a little pale."

Yeah, well, you would be too if you realized that you may, possibly, kinda be in love with Sam. That's what Danny wanted to say; what came out was "Really, guys, I'm fine."

Neither of them looked convinced, but Sam just said, "Try to get some more sleep, okay?" Danny nodded in response.

Tuesday was pretty much the same, and Wednesday too. He spent the days in a haze of confusion. His stomach turned whenever he saw Sam, and then he had to question why that was. Finally he took Sam's advice about sleeping, thinking that if he was sleeping, he couldn't think about her. Of course, that plan hinged on being able to go to sleep, made nearly impossible by how much he was thinking. After an hour of tossing and turning, the truth fell on him like an anvil in an old cartoon.

Danny was in love with Sam. After years of falling for other girls, meanwhile having Sam always in the back corner of his mind and fighting an unknown fight against the inevitable, he had lost. It was all he could think about. How beautiful she was, how long it took him to realize it, but most importantly: what to do about it.

He could not just walk up to her and say "Sam, I'm in love with you." That wouldn't do at all. She'd laugh at something dramatic and cheesy. Telling her naturally and sincerely didn't really seem like an option at the time because it was so simple, and Danny was so freaked out he wasn't even working on that level.

If he had thought that school had been awkward before, it was ten times so on Thursday. There's nothing like being in love with someone to put a boy on edge. When he got an invitation to a party, he accepted right away, needing something to calm him down.

"So, are we still on for Friday?" Sam asked at lunch.

Tucker and Danny looked at each other. "Uh," Danny began.

"Oh no," Sam said. "You two are not abandoning me."

"Kinda," Tucker said, and added quickly "It's a party at Valerie's house and I'm sure you can come along!"

Sam frowned, "Yeah, because Valerie's my bestest friend. Guys, it's the Richard Linklater film fest! I've been waiting for this for months."

"Sam, we only enjoy one of his movies. We'd be bored and you would hate having us there." Danny explained. And he would hate being there, because he was so afraid of what might come out of his mouth next concerning Sam that he needed distance.

Sam looked wordlessly between them. "Fine." She said finally. "But I'm still going."

"By all means," Tucker said, "You deserve a night to yourself." Danny nodded enthusiastically.

"I'm also still mad at you both." Without another word, she got up and left.

"She's pissed." Tucker said.

"Astute observation, Einstein." Danny sighed, "I can't believe we forgot."

"We spent all of last weekend with her, and we're going out to dinner Saturday night," Tucker pointed out. "I'm sure when she really thinks about it, she'll be glad to have some time without us."

"Yeah," Danny agreed hollowly. He had that same, sick feeling he always did when he let down Sam, but it felt worse this time.

Sam didn't talk to them on Friday. Tucker kept on insisting that she'd get over it soon, so there was really nothing to worry about. Danny wasn't entirely sure he believed him, but he went with it anyway. With some apprehension, he went to Valerie's party.

Admittedly, it was a fun time. Not too wild, good food, fun music. Danny realized that he hadn't thought about Sam once the entire time. He hadn't thought about ghosts either, but that streak ended when he heard a shriek from upstairs and the blue mist floated out of his mouth.

He ran upstairs, going ghost in the process, and found a ghost scaring a girl who had run out of the bathroom. Upon seeing Danny, it cackled and flew out the window, with Danny following close behind it.

It was cold outside, but Danny barely noticed as he whipped through trees, the glowing blue specter just out of reach. To make matters worse, it was flipping around and showing off, which was just annoying.

They finally came out of the park and into the open air. Danny reached for the Fenton Thermos when he saw another ghost out of the corner of his eye. Distracted, he stopped and turned to look at it. The ghost he had been chasing was not pleased by this development.

"Hey!" It yelled. "You were chasing me-" Danny cut it off by sucking it into the thermos, and flew down to the new ghost for another look. He couldn't tell from where he was, but he was certain it was holding a person.

With growing trepidation, he flew even closer, preparing to fight back. He finally got a look at the person who was trapped.

It was Sam.

* * *

Review! 


	2. Sam

**Title**: Quietly

**Author**: adorkable3

**Feedback**: Of course! Leave a review or drop me an email.

**Disclaimer**: Danny Phantom belongs to Nickelodeon and all those associated with it.

**Note**: Thank you for the reviews from chapter 1! Now, on with the show.

* * *

Samantha Manson was having a horrible day. And it wasn't just one of those bad days that seem horrible at the time but later really wasn't that bad; this one was bad. She was sure that she would remember how bad this day was for the rest of her life. 

First, there was the physics test that she was completely unprepared for. Then there was the history essay that she had done wrong. After that, she ate lunch on her own since she was still mad at Danny and Tucker. In English she hadn't understood the reading but had to present a speech on the main themes. She was pretty sure she had bombed that. She got back last week's French test and received a pathetic C for her efforts.

At home, she was treated to another one of her mom's lectures on how making a good impression hinges on appearance, and her current wardrobe was just not up to par. Finally, the highlight of her day had come, the Richard Linklater film fest. For a glorious two and a half hours, she was having fun, until the power went out at the theatre only five minutes into _Waking Life_.

Now, she had to walk home, wearing a coat that wasn't nearly thick enough for the cold weather (the light pink one was the only one her mom would let her out of the house with).

Sam was considering just going home and sleeping when she heard someone walking behind her. She turned around: no one there. It had to be her imagination. But when she started again, she could definitely hear something; it wasn't walking, more like the sound of moving air.

A second too late she realized it was a ghost.

It wasn't of the Box Ghost-completely-harmless-just-slightly-bothersome variety, this was a ghost. It looked like an old man, spindly and ill, the sort of thing that people say they see in old houses. It just stood floating behind her. She stared at it, transfixed. Slowly, she reached for her cell phone, but found her back pocket empty (of course, her phone was in the pocket of her other skirt, the one she had to change out of because she got mud on it). Just as she did that, the ghost stirred slightly and said, very calmly "Boo," before letting out a piercing shriek and rushed towards her.

Sam ran as fast as she could. One look over her shoulder gave her a view of the ghost in a different form; he was no longer a frail old man but a towering monster. She started to run faster, there was a shortcut through the park she could take, when she felt something icy cold begin to slip around her waist. There was a faint silvery rope around her, and it was connected to the ghost. He was beginning to pull her backwards, he was stronger, and she couldn't outrun it.

The ghost held Sam in its massive grip. "What do you want?" she screamed. Shit, she had no cell phone, no ghost weapons, Danny and Tucker were at a party, the street was deserted, and if she was going to die, she'd really prefer to know why.

The ghost opened its mouth; the "breathing" sounded like a death rattle. She closed her eyes, completely unprepared for what would happen next…

…when it let her go. She went flying to the ground, and when Sam opened her eyes she saw Danny flying ten feet above her, fighting with the ghost. Sam wasn't sure how much time passed, but it felt like forever. She wanted desperately to help Danny (from where she was it seemed like he was being beaten) but there was nothing she could do.

She was getting really worried (how could Danny be slammed into a wall like that and still be able to stand—fly—up straight?) when suddenly the ghost was gone with a little blue flash. Sam was sure it had disappeared on its own will, when she saw the Fenton Thermos glinting at Danny's side.

He glided down to her, and once he hit the ground Danny changed back to normal. He came running to where she was still on the ground.

"Sam!" He yelled, "Are you okay."

Sam stood up shakily. "I'm fine. I've had a really, really bad day, but I'm fine."

"Good." Danny stared at her with concern for a moment before exploding, "What were you thinking? Didn't you have any weapons on you?"

"No," Sam muttered. There had been an increase in ghost activity in the past year, and they had all agreed to have some sort of ghost-fighting weapon on them at all times, and to call Danny if it was anything bad. Of course, she hadn't taken one, since she had expected to spend the night with the Tucker and Danny discussing the finer points of the evolution of Jesse and Celine's relationship at the film fest.

But what was Danny getting so mad about anyway? He would've had to fight the ghost regardless and been pulled away from his precious party.

"Why didn't you call then?" he demanded.

"I didn't have it with me. Even if I did, it's not like it would have helped since I was, I don't know, being attacked by a ghost!"

"Jesus, Sam, all you have to do is leave me a silent two-minute voicemail message and I would have come running."

"Why are you freaking out so much?" Sam yelled?

"Who knows what could have happened to you if I hadn't been here?" Danny said harshly.

"I think I can look after myself." Sam shot back.

"So is that what you were doing when I got here?" he replied. "'Cause if so, you were doing a great job. Admit it; you were helpless without me."

Sam's face fell. Danny had a point, but he didn't have to say it so harshly.

"Thanks," she said bitterly, and started to walk in the direction home. She hadn't walked more than fifty feet when she heard Danny calling after her.

He caught up with her, and Sam stopped. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean what I said." Sam smiled cautiously at him. Danny started to say something, hesitated, and then blurted out, "I was so scared about what might happen to you that I overreacted."

Sam didn't have anything to say to that, so she answered physically instead, and hugged him.

"So, are you still mad at me?" Danny asked, half-laughing as he hugged her back.

"No," Sam answered when she let go, "But you and Tucker are still going to have to work to get back on my good side."

"Sorry," Danny said sheepishly. "Why aren't you at the movies anyway?"

"Theater lost power."

"Sorry." Danny looked at her thin jacket. "Aren't you cold?"

"Yeah," Danny took off his jacket and handed it to her. "No way, now you'll be cold."

"Nah," he said, "Being half-ghost has made me used to the cold." Sam raised an eyebrow. "Mostly used to it," he amended. "C'mon, I'll walk you home."

Danny asked Sam about her horrible day as they walked back to her house, and Sam was more than happy to have someone to vent to. But as she talked, Sam noticed that Danny was acting really, really skitzo. In the past ten minutes, he'd gone from angry, to concerned, to friendly, and now he was nervously avoiding her gaze. In fact, when she thought about it, he'd been acting like this all week. Sam was going to ask him about it, but thought better. Danny and direct questions never really worked out.

Finally, they reached her house. Sam handed Danny back his jacket. "Thank you," she said, "For everything."

"It was no big deal," he said. "Just, uh, be more careful."

And then, in his most confusing move of all, Danny took a step towards her, stopped, and stepped back. "I'll see you later." Danny said and moved quickly away from Sam and down to the sidewalk.

"Bye," Sam called out, completely mystified. It wasn't until she was halfway up the stairs that she realized Danny had been about to kiss her.

And then she tripped.

"Samantha, honeybunch," her dad called from the study, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Sam yelled back. In fact, she continued in her head, I've never been better.

* * *

See that pretty little purple/blue box that says 'review'? I want you to click it. And then, it would be really nice if you wrote something. Not like I'm broadly hinting, or anything. 


	3. Danny and Sam

**Title**: Quietly

**Author**: adorkable3

**Feedback**:Is always welcome.Leave a review or drop me an email.

**Disclaimer**: Danny Phantom belongs to Nickelodeon and all those associated with it. And remember, even if it is getting canceled, we have until February 2007 when the new episodes end. Also, if it's over, we never have to see the inevitable "Danny/Sam Break-up Because a Happy Couple Makes Boring Plotlines (a la the School of Joss Whedon)"!

**Note**: Thank you for the reviews from chapter 2! I hope you enjoy this chapter, even though it is on the shortish side.

* * *

Chapter 3 

Tucker had been waiting for the past four years for Danny and Sam to realize that they were in love with each other.

Wait, that wasn't quite right. He'd been waiting three years for Danny to realize that the year before that Sam had fallen in love with him. He'd also been waiting three years for Sam to use that ferocious courage she possessed to tell Danny that herself. Neither happened.

Finally it seemed like there had been some breakthrough between the two of them. Suddenly, they got really quiet around each other. Whenever someone would suggest that they were dating, instead of loudly protesting it, they'd both blush and look at the floor.

While it was certainly a change from Danny's complete ignorance and Sam's attitude of "I don't love Danny but if you come within ten feet of him, I will cut you, bitch", he had to admit he found this stage of their non-relationship a lot more frustrating (and a lot less entertaining).

For the first week, Tucker didn't say anything. Let it happen on its own, he thought. By the first half of the second week he was getting antsy. On Wednesday, he exploded at both of them.

Sam was first. She was saying something to him about the winter dance next Friday and whether or not she should go.

"Mom's on this 'baby-steps' approach to make me more like her. She said that if I go to the dance and act sociable, she'll take me shopping to buy whatever dress I want. Of course, she's _so_ disappointed that I don't have a date."

"You should ask Danny." Tucker suggested.

"I don't think so. I'm sure he wants to go with someone who's not me." Sam said, suddenly demure and looking at the floor.

"I really think he doesn't," Tucker responded. "Haven't you noticed how weird he's been acting the past few weeks? He's totally in love with you.

"Yeah, I've noticed," Sam answered softly. "I just don't know what to do about it."

"Sam, you've been in love with him since you were 14. I don't think words are really needed here." Tucker implored.

"Tucker, why do you think I've never made a move?" Sam asked.

"Because Danny was completely oblivious to the fact that you liked him and continually broke your heart by going after every girl that wasn't you?"

"Besides that."

"I have no idea. Do tell."

"Danny and I have known each other for most of our lives. I can't remember a time without him. If we got together and then had this horrible break-up, things would never be the same again. I don't want to risk our friendship."

"You know what I think, Sam?" Tucker said. Without waiting for her to answer, he went on, "That's just a stupid excuse. It's your wall to hide behind. You need to take a risk, Sam. Danny likes you, and I bet he wouldn't use that excuse."

* * *

"The thing is that we're such good friends I don't want anything to ruin that." Danny didn't notice Tucker slap his forehead in frustration. 

"You know, if I didn't have so much invested in this, I would just give up!" Tucker yelled. "You guys like each other. Hell, you may even love each other. I am sick of seeing you two dancing around each other like this. Just take a risk."

"I don't even know if she really likes me." Danny sighed.

"Danny, she has been in love with you since we were 14. She admitted it to me. She still is. There aren't any barriers here. What's stopping me from playing the music from _Jerry Maguire_ while you run off to declare your undying love for her?"

"Well, one: Sam would just laugh at me if I did that, and two: if she has been in love with me that long, don't you think she'll be a little pissed that I only came around now?"

"Danny, I am serious." Tucker said. "Just ask her to the dance or tell her you like her or kiss her or something!"

"Let me think about it." Danny lay back down on his bed and didn't say anything else. Tucker shook his head and walked out the door.

* * *

If things had been awkward before, they were doubly so now. They were painfully aware of not only what they themselves felt, but what the other one did too. Both were ready, but neither wanted to make the first move. 

Late Friday night, after about three hours of tossing and turning, Danny went out flying to clear his head. Without thinking, he flew to Sam's house. It wasn't that strange of an action; she was a night owl and sometimes would be up when he was, ready to watch a movie or just talk.

Of course now, peering into her window at one in the morning made him feel like a creepy stalker, a point he realized just a little too late.

"Hey ghost boy!" someone yelled from below. He flipped around from looking into Sam's (empty) bedroom down to Sam herself, huddled up in the gazebo below him. Danny flew down to where she was sitting and changed back into a human. She was sitting wrapped in a pile of blankets with a book.

"I felt like reading under the stars," she explained before Danny had a chance to ask. "What were you doing?"

"Looking for you," he answered automatically, and then he added "I couldn't sleep."

"That makes two of us," she smiled. "Why were you looking for me?"

Danny took a deep breath before answering, "I think you know why."

Sam blinked a couple of times, and then slowly said, "So you're in love with me."

"And you're in love with me," he responded.

"It took you long enough to come around."

"Too long."

Sam smiled, "I won't argue with that." She looked at Danny who was shivering on his side of the gazebo and opened up her blanket some. "C'mere." He gratefully sat next to Sam under the warm blanket.

"I thought you were immune to the cold," Sam teased.

"Ha ha." Danny said. When trying to get some more of the blanket, his hand accidentally came to rest on Sam's hip. "Sorry!"

"No," Sam smiled and put her head on his shoulder, "It's okay." Danny smiled back, and summoning more courage than he'd ever had to before, he kissed her.

Danny had thought that when this moment came, there would be fireworks or an earthquake or reporters there to capture the kiss as it happened. Instead, it was the complete opposite.

There was nothing special to it, and that made it perfect. He was just kissing Sam at 1:04 in the morning as though it was completely normal. There was no big moment, no shift in the molecules, no earth-shattering event.

Danny and Sam had always been ready; it just took them a while to realize it.

* * *

One more chapter after this! Review, please! 


	4. Danny and Sam and Everyone We Know

**Title**: Quietly

**Author**: adorkable3

**Feedback**:Everytime an author gets feedback an angel gets it wings .:sage nod:.

**Status**: Complete...or is it? See A.N.

**Disclaimer**: Danny Phantom belongs to Nickelodeon and all those associated with it. I saw the line at the endof the ficscribbled on a wall in the subway once.

**Author's Note**: All right, this was all supposed to be a little four-parter. This was a fandom that I have never written in before, so my original plan was to post this and leave forever. But the feedback I've gotten has been great and erased my fears that I suck at DP fic. I have no idea if I'll do a little sequel or what. Watch my profile for updates, I guess.

But thanks so much for the reviews I've been getting. Now, onto the last chapter.

* * *

Chapter 4

News traveled fast among the senior class of Amity Park. By Tuesday, the entire school was aware of the fact that Danny Fenton and Sam Manson were dating.

Danny and Sam had managed to stay blissfully unaware of their new notoriety for an entire day, but this could have something to do with the fact that they were too busy with each other to notice anything else.

"Did you do the calculus homework?" Danny asked.

"Yup. I didn't understand as much of it as I'd like to, but I should be fine in time for the exam." Sam smiled. It was a normal sort of conversation they'd have before school, but with a lot more smiling and a lot more holding hands.

"Fenton!" Dash yelled from one end of the hall.

"Oh shit." Danny muttered. He was about to run into a broom closet (and if Sam got pulled along by accident that would just be a pleasant coincidence) when Dash beat him there.

"I hope you two are happy," he growled.

"Um, yes?" Danny said.

"I had fifty bucks on you two getting together at Valentine's Day and you had to go and ruin it!" Dash yelled and then stomped off.

"What's going on?" Sam asked. Danny shook his head. As they walked down the hall, they noticed a lot of people smiling at them, but more than a few people glaring at them the way Dash had been.

"The hell…?"

"Hey guys!" Tucker came up from behind them and patted them both on the shoulders. "Boy, today is a good day!"

Sam noticed the large stack of twenty dollar bills stuffed in his pocket.

"Tucker," she said slowly, "What's going on?"

"Nothing! I'm just happy for you two." Tucker explained. As soon as he said it, Paulina came up and handed him forty dollars.

"Tucker," Danny said dangerously, "is this what you meant by being 'invested' in me and Sam?"

Tucker blushed, "So maybe I organized a bet at the end of last year about when you two would start dating."

"Tucker!" Danny and Sam yelled. "You had people betting on our love life?"

"…Yes. It's been really lucrative too."

Sam thought for a moment and said, "You were encouraging us to get together. Was it only so we could meet your projected date?"

"No, I would have done that without the bet. I just happened to get lucky." Tucker smiled at them. "I'll split it with you guys, if you want."

"All right you lovebirds, into class." Lancer barked at them from the door. Sam smiled at Danny with a slight blush in her cheeks.

"Take out your poetry books and open to page 146. This is a pop quiz; I want you to read the poem and then identify key themes and the significance of poetic devices used. You have one hour."

Danny looked down at a line scribbled in the front of the book and grinned upon reading it.

"True love comes in quietly…"

Didn't it just?


End file.
